Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
ularly with the signing of the Bowring Treaty, which took place just four years after he had
ascended the throne.
Wat Bowon is a royal temple, first class, and has remained an important centre of
study for Thai princes over the years. King Bhumibol resided here for a short period after
he became monarch. Within the golden
chedi
are interred the ashes of several members
of the royal family. Some notoriety is also attached to Wat Bowon. Field Marshal Thanom
Kittikachorn, who oversaw a decade of iron military rule beginning in 1963 before a vi-
olent uprising drove him into exile, returned to Thailand in 1976, dressed in the robes
of a novice monk, and took refuge in Wat Bowon. His return triggered student protests,
which coalesced on the campus of the nearby Thammasat University. Afraid of the spread
of communism that had already taken control in Vietnam and Laos, right-wing security
forces stormed the campus and massacred many of the protestors before seizing power
from the elected civilian government.
There are several entrances to Wat Bowon, but the main entrance on Phra Sumen
Road opens directly to the
ubosot
. There are two carved Siew Kang figures on the gate, the
Chinese guardian who protects the temple: one carries a trident and a dagger and rides on
the back of a crocodile, while the other carries a sword and shield and rides a dragon. The
mouths of these two figures appear to seep blood. In the days when there was the Huai Ko
Kho, a form of official lottery that was run from a house in Chinatown, gamblers would
visit the temple to pray for good luck. Many Chinese were addicted to opium, and de-
votees thought Siew Kang might appreciate a hit, smearing opium on his mouth and caus-
ing the stains that can be seen today. Past the opium-dazed guardians of the gate, the open
doors of the
ubosot
reveal not one Buddha figure but two, one seated behind the other. The
one to the front is Phra Phuttha Chinnasee, a Sukhothai-era bronze that was brought from
a temple in Phitsanulok, while behind it is Phra To, brought from Phetchaburi. In front of
the figures are images of three former princely abbots of the temple, and on the walls are
murals painted by In Khong, a master painter from Rama
IV
's reign, of especial interest
because this is one of the earliest occasions a Siamese artist had adapted Western-influ-
enced perspective for temple murals. Behind the
ubosot
is the Rama
V
era golden
chedi
,
guarded by ochre and white
bodhisattvas
and with a staircase that leads to an upper level
from which can be had photogenic views of the surprisingly Chinese-style rooftops of
the Wiharn Keng, a legacy of Rama
III
's China-leaning influence, the gables adorned with
the shapes of humans, flowers, swans and fish, all auspicious symbols of Chinese belief.
Around the base of the
chedi
are many Chinese stone figures that travelled in the holds of
the rice junks as ballast. Elsewhere in the compound is the Wiharn Phra Satsada, divided
